Pacific Countries Need Help to Protect Biodiversity, WWF Says
1/31/00
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: WWF CALLS FOR HELP FOR PACIFIC COUNTRIES TO PROTECT
BIODIVERSITY
Source: WWF Pacific
Status: Copyright 2000, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: January 31, 2000
Byline: Elisabeth Mealey, emealey@wwfpacific.org.fj
Pacific Island countries which have committed themselves to
protecting their remaining forest, marine and wetland environments
under the international Convention on Biodiversity, now need the
promised technical and financial assistance from developed countries
to fulfil their obligations, according to WWF (World Wide Fund for
Nature).
Cedric Schuster of WWF's South Pacific Program said 13 Pacific Island
countries had now signed onto the Convention and started to prepare
national action plans to protect their biological diversity. Three
countries -- Fiji, Vanuatu and Marshall Islands -- have completed
their action plans and now need financial and technical support to
get them underway.
The call to developed countries comes as the meeting of the
scientific body of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) gets underway
in Montreal, Canada today (Jan 31).
"Pacific countries have done the right thing by signing onto the
convention and developing plans to protect their unique biological
diversity, " Cedric Schuster said. "But without the financial and
technical assistance from developed countries like Australia, New
Zealand and the UK, it will be close to impossible for most countries
to carry out the work needed."
"Unless these small island developing states get the support they
need, their rich biological diversity will continue to decline.
Meanwhile, their action plans will go onto the shelf alongside
previous environment management plans that have never been put into
action for lack of funds."
WWF also warned Pacific Island governments not to become totally
reliant on funds from developed countries.
"Pacific Island countries need to step up their commitment by
increasing national funding and boosting human resources for
conservation work," Cedric Schuster said.
The CBD, which came into force in 1993, is an international treaty
that provides a framework of actions required to conserve the wealth
of the planet's biological diversity to ensure that its use is
sustainable and that benefits arising from its use are equitably
shared. It arose out of a growing global concern over the
unprecedented loss of biological diversity. There are 174 countries
around the world that are signatories to the convention.
The CBD requires developed countries to provide "new and additional
financial resources" to enable developing countries to protect
natural resources that have a global significance.
For more information: Elisabeth Mealey at WWF South Pacific Program.
Phone: 679-315533 or email: emealey@wwfpacific.org.fj